Drahoslav Tesar
The man who built Commonwealth Drahoslav Tesar was a human male born on Ortus who served as the Chancellor of the Ortus Council of Nations, and of its successor state, the Commonwealth. On first of January, 2200, he declared the beginning the space age in a speech that coincided with the launch of hundreds of spacecraft into orbit to construct Ortus Spaceport. Best friend of Prime Minister Takumi Ishii, Drahoslav Tesar was the public face of the Commonwealth for many years while Ishii dealt with matters which demanded more secrecy. Though he formally retired in year 2251 he remained closely associated with Innovation Party, especially with Techocratic Commitee led by his wife, Professor Aadhira Tanwar. Youth Drahoslav was 4th and last child of Koronia and Segmarti Tesars, born in Kerpes - capital of old Yalchan Stratocracy. His father was a City Delver who spent most of his time deep underneath Kerpes, digging new tunnels to increase the size of the city - something necessary, as surface temperature in Kerpes nevery really went above 0 degrees Celsius. His mother was a Mason, filling tunnels dug by her husband with new city blocks while constantly keeping in mind structural integrity of entire cave network. Both Drahoslav's parents took their jobs very seriously - so much so, that when first asteroid mining bases were built during Expanse Project, they both took to the stars and lend their expertise - but that meant that their youngest son rarely spent time with them, instead being cared for by his oldest sister who, like her mother, was also educating herself to become a Mason one day. His other sister and brother wanted to become Delvers like their father, but young Drahoslav broke the pattern by showin almost no interest in either construction or mining work. Instead, as years went by, he became increasingly interested in a career of a Tender - and for good reason, as it seemed that every single plant, crop or fungus grew exceedingly well when he was tending to it. And though this breaking of a pattern annoyed Tesar family immensely, there was no denying that in Yalchan Stratocracy good Tenders were worth their weight in gold. The country - as it name suggests - was a highly militarized society, well drilled and organized but, ultimately, never really able to fully sustain itself. Yalcha always had to import over half of its food from abroad, either from agrarian Ekata Republic - their neighbour and silent rival - or from Evimeria Mercantile City States - who always ensured that every deal would benefit them above all else. As such, when Drahoslav started showing his agrarian skills at the age of 6, the government proposed that he should be transferred to Yalchan Agricultural School where his skills could be used to stop the constant fear of famine that his country always faced. And although not excited at the idea of handing over their youngest son to government school, Drahoslav's parents agreed and - on 1st of September 2164, the future chancellor began his first day of school, where he would be trained to become a man who could feed an entire planet - and, in a way, it worked out even better than his teachers expected. Military farmer Like nearly all other facilities operated by Yalchan government, Agricultural School was run like a military one. And, as Drahoslav was always quick to admit, he hated every single moment of it. Waking up before dawn for two hours of gruesome physical activities, constant military-like drill and neverending pressure from superiors meant that very soon all students were in constant state of physical and mental exhaustion - something that, Tesar argued, were not the best conditions for people who were supposed to learn something. Years later, he would admit that the school probably just wanted to instill discipline in all students, since they were one of the few groups that wasn't forced into mandatory year-long conscription, but military training was, by design, not suited for future scientists. Because after one year of endless drills most of the students lost all their inquisitiveness and became unthinking followers - which baffled Drahoslav greatly, as he though that the whole point of this school was to develop new agrarian ideas, since old ones were clearly not enough. Still, he and few others persevered but that led to another set of problems - for, in society as disciplined as Yalchan one, not bending to the will of your superiors was practically a crime. Each time he questioned his professors, each time he dared to undermine knowledge written in almost century-old books, Tesar stepped on a thin line between being punished or outright expelled, but - thanks to his very high grades - his mentors could only grit their teeth and over the next 9 years they slowly accepted the fact that one of their best students also happened to be the most unruly one. During these years Tesar also developed his dry, dark sense of humor, which he used to cope with constant stress. According to several reports, Tesar also acted as if he never took anything seriously - which focused rage of all teachers on him, something that made him quite popular amongst other students since thanks to his carefree attidute they themselves were no longer in the crosshairs. Regardless, Tesar and most of his year managed to survive the school, and on July 2nd 2174 he graduated as 8th one in the entire Academy, his head already swarming with ideas on how to improve food situation of his homeland... amongst other things. Farm smarter Over the next 7 years Tesar, along with other graduates from Agricultural Academy were dispatched all across Yalchan Stratocracy in order to implement their ideas and increase food production. The job was absorbing and required constant moving around though - as soon as one fungal farm was improved, Tesar would pack his belongings and move to another settlement, never staying for long in the same place. This life on the road, however, had its upsides - for example, a charismatic young man like Drahoslav could easily use this opportunity to make friends in societies all across the country and - thanks to overwhelming success of his agrarian ideas - soon even from across the borders. Still, for first 4 years of his career as a Tender, Tesar was simply content to do as much work as possible, always keeping an eye on official government statistics that - while indirectly - proved that his ideas were working. Tesar's biggest moment, however, came in 2181 when he was overseeing improvements of great undeground fungal farms in Barazhyn that turned the city into one of the most important agricultural centers not only in Yalcha, but on entire Ortus. Interestingly, during that year he worked extensively with Takumi Ishii's parents, and once even babysit his future Prime Minister - a fact that they both realized only years after, much to Ishii's dismay (they agreed to never mention it publicly) During his work in Barazhyn, Tesar also had another chance meeting - one with Demetrios Sinon, head of Sinon Financial Solutions company, one of the more important oligarchs from Evimeria City States and - most importantly at the time - an aspiring senator working with Innovation Party in Ortus Council of Nations. At the time, OCN was a stagnant organization - the Exile Party that ruled it technically acted as overseers of entire humanity on Ortus, but in truth were more focused on martyrology and cult of Old Earth. Sinon and the Innovation Party wanted to change it, but realized that in order to do so they would first have to present an alternative - and the proposed solution was simple in theory, but far more difficult to implement. In short, Innovation Party wanted to create an extensive group of brightest minds from all across Ortus, and show people how much humanity could achieve while working together without caring for nationalities. In his talks with Tesar, Sinon outlined plans of great planet-spanning cities, of meritocratic government where not political entrenchment but individual skill would decide person's influence and even something he called "Expanse Project", a massive investment that would allow people of Ortus to expoit resources of their solar system. And Drahoslav - never too much of a Yalchan patriot himself - agreed, most importantly because he had little trust in his own government. As he grew up, he witnessed increasingly numerous cases of Yalchan military posturing - one of which even led to a week-long conflict with Ekata Republic that almost spiraled into an all-out war. Tesar knew that, as soon as his motherland would become self-sustaining, it would probably begin wars of conquest in the coming decades. So in order to prevent that - and convinced by magnificent vision of future painted by Sinon - Drahoslav left Yalcha behind, and joined the Science Council of OCN, eager to use his knowledge for the benefit of all. From botanist to chancellor Between 2182 and 2188, Tesar worked as an agricultural botanist for BioSoc Division, traveling all around Ortus to improve food situation - because, while mass famine was not something that threatened humanity at this moment, like it did in years after Exodus, there were still many places on Ortus where getting a decent meal was not guaranteed. However, over these 6 years, Tesar's ideas resolved that issue almost completely. Though it has to be said, that it wasn't his work alone - while designing various hydroponic farms was Tesar's forte, actually building them and making them cost-efficient was a job of one Nestor Lachinov - future head of Engineering Division. Over the years, the two worked closely together and, by June 2188, became one of the most recognizable faces of Innovation party, a duo of scientists whose work filled bellies of hungry families all across the planet. And it was thanks to this work, that when elections for new OCN Chancellor began in November 2189, the Innovation Party placed Tesar in the spotlight. Not only was he recognizeable thanks to his work, he was also a surprisingly charismatic man, able to easily make friends and disarm difficult situations with a smile and few calm words. Although, during elections of 2189, the simple fact that he wasn't from Exile Party was enough - a series of political scandals and wave of civil unrest completely eroded already small support Exiles had at this point, and on 1st of January 2190, for the first time since its creation, Innovation Party became a leading power in OCN - with Drahoslav Tesar acting as a Chancellor, which made this botanist, technically, an elected leader of entire humanity. To the stars The years after Innovators rise to power quickly turned into a blur of almost neverending work. The OCN had to be reorganized in order to shake off over a century-long stagnation. Popular trust had to be regained and new diplomatic contacts estabilished but - thanks to the sheer amount of experts in Innovation Party - everything worked out faster than anyone expected. The nations of Ortus, while initially unwilling to cooperate on large projects, soon realized how easier their lives became when they started working together. Over the next 5 years inefficient laws implemented by Exile Party were revoked, and soon people from entire planet began - cautiously at first - replacing their own, entrenched political elites with young, energetic specialists who would finally shake their respective homelands from their stupor. The most important moment, however, came in 2195, in the middle of Innovators' first term. Everything worked out so well, and people of Ortus were so eager to finally stop grieving after old Earth, that the OCN found itself with spare time and far more resources than was initially anticipated. And it was during this meeting, when Sinon and Tesar both proposed the Expanse Project. Humanity, they argued, could only benefit from this, for several reasons - but one of the most important ones, was the lesson of history. One homeworld was already lost, and a threat like the planetoid could happen again at any time, so to in order to ensure its survival, humanity should expand to other worlds as quickly and efficiently as possible. The cot of Expanse Project would be astronomical though, there was no denying that, but with Sinon and other Evimerian businesspeople providing the bulk of investment money, Tesar managed to convince Innovation Party to back the idea up. On 2nd of January, 2196, it was decided - humans would leave gravity well of Ortus, develop a new habitat in orbit and use it as a stepping stone towards the stars. Soon, entire OCN began gathering funds and resources to fuel this goal. The Science Council was reorganized as well, changing its focus to stellar exploration and expansion. During this time, Tesar also met his future wife, Aadhira Tanwar - one of the youngest people to ever become a head of their own Science Division. Eager and determined to see Expanse Project succeed, Tesar led Innovators with even more zeal than before, and - on 1st of January, 2200 - he officially proclaimed the start of the project, a move that won him immense popularity and ensured his position as chancellor for next 50 years and - eventually, enabled him to unite entire human race under one banner. It is important to say though that, despite his political career, Tesar never really forgot about his roots as a botanist. For example, even though he approved the plan to strip-mine planet Arvo, he also demanded that several valleys on the planet must remain untouched and act as preservation areas for local flora and fauna. In fact, BioSoc's botanical laboratory on Arvo was one of the places that the Chancellor visited most often, every time he wanted to get away from his busy life. After he was replaced by Admiral Shu Lin, he rejoined BioSoc Division to work as a botanist again, and he would continue to do so until his tragic death on 7th of April, 2305. The Last Light On the date of 7.04.2305 during the events of the Last Light, Drahoslav Tesar together with Commander Shen Kuo tried to fend off Zracon-possessed forces that attacket the Science Council. However, during the firefight Tesar was shot in the throat by soldiers from Task Force Ethereal. Professor Tanwar tried to stabilize the wound, but unfortunately it is unknown if she managed to do so, as they were separated from main group and killed by Zracon infiltrators. They were both buried 4 days later in a small grave next to Ortus Unification Memorial.Category:Characters Category:Members of the Commonwealth Category:Deceased Characters